Mosaic Crochet: Tom’s Blanket

Finished at last!

This Mosaic Blanket for my nephew Tom has been a long time in the making, but I finished it just in time for it to be a house warming present for him as he moves into his new flat this week. The pattern is Santa Cruz by Daisy Knots

I have made it once before for another nephew.

You might remember  I started making this one when I went on a 2 week retreat in December 2020, and this is how it looked after 2 weeks of pretty solid crocheting

I am often asked how long crochet takes and this is very hard to answer. Each pattern has its own timescale and I often crochet whilst doing other things. I also have several projects on the go at all times.

In this case it was a satisfying pattern to make, but required concentration and I made so many mistakes that I spent a long time unpicking and re-doing.

One way to attempt to answer the question of how long does it take is that I timed one row and it took

Another question I am often asked, is ‘do I sell my blankets’.

NO!

I love making them as gifts, but just as it feels very uncomfortable to me to time what I make, as so much more than time goes into them – it would be impossible for me to put a price on the blankets and throws.

I had to leave this project for long periods of time during the making of it, to give myself a break.

When I asked Tom what colours he wanted he didn’t know so I offered a choice of Black, Grey, White, Red which would tie in with the colours of his favourite football team or these in  Stylecraft Special Aran: Mustard Gold, Silver, Black, Copper and Cream

He went for this colour combo

There is a lot of Back Loop/Front Loop crochet to make the pattern.

Each row uses a new piece of yarn so each row has two ends that have to be dealt with somehow. This pattern creates a pocket on the edging to house the ends.

I didn’t feel happy with just pulling the yarn through a stitch and leaving it like that, so I tied reef knots in twos along the edge after I had crocheted the edge.

I also made a wider border than the pattern and only crocheted the piece at the back to cover the ends, to go about half way up the border – maybe this was a mistake.

If anyone else has any ideas about how to deal with the masses of ends in mosaic crochet, I’d love to hear them.

The ends inside the pocket did create a bump. In the pattern they are cut to just about an inch long, but I didn’t feel happy about that, so I left mine much longer.

The photos of the finished article were taken at West Dean College

Oh My! what a beautiful place it is. I have recently been on a couple of residential painting courses there and knew that it would be just the right backdrop for the blanket.This was my bedroom! What glorious luxury for a few nights.

And Tom is thrilled with his blanketwell it is very soft and snuggly!

 

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Beach Walks

On my retreat I got up each morning eager to see the sunrise,

hoping to catch that moment when the sun just peeps above the clouds.

After some crochet, and timed according to the tides, I went for a walk to one of the two little beaches nearby.

When the sea was calm, there was a heron

 fishing

but I was looking for rusty bits and seaglass

On the whole the weather was good

with the low sun adding beauty the the hedgerows.

Looking back from the path, if you zoom in, you can see my caravan perched above the beach.

So back to my cosy nest for some more crochet

This is what two weeks of mosaic crochet looks like – in Stylecraft Special Aran and 5mm hook. The pattern is Santa Cruz by Daisy Knots.

Then out for another walk to catch the sun setting

I wonder where I will go for Christmas 2022.

If you could go anywhere in the world for two weeks on your own, where would you go?

Yarn Along: Mosaic Crochet Lap Blanket

Stylecraft Special Double Knit and 4.5mm hook. Colours and quantities: 4 Parchment, 2 Copper, 1 Lincoln, 1 Silver, 1 and a bit (enough to do the last row of the border) Cypress

Measurements: 1m15cm x 1m3cm

Pattern by Moira of Daisyknots

I made this for my nephew (30), it was supposed to be longer, but I accidentally missed out a couple of sections in the middle. I was doing the border when I realised, so I had gone way too far to unpick. My nephew says he is happy with the size, which should look good as a throw on a chair or sofa and be the right size for a lap blanket. The colours are to go with his room, which is mainly greens, but he asked that I include a rust colour as he knows how much I love my rust and it would ‘add that Dondi touch’.

‘Dondi’ is the nickname all my nieces and nephews have for me. You might remember that another nephew even co-wrote a song “Singing this song for Dondi”.

I have just got the back border to complete. An envelope border to encase all the ends, as you only work on one side and start a new piece of yarn for each row. Cunning plan!

Joining in with Ginny for her Yarn Along

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I have finished the book!

This is the first novel I have read for years – I don’t know what happened, but at some point I just lost interest in reading fiction.

I enjoyed the almost poetic descriptions – there are some beautiful scenes that really give you a sense of place and I enjoyed the characters. I could have done without the whole ‘whodunnit’ aspect of the book, especially the tying up of the plot which seemed rushed at the end and I did not believe in it.

Maybe Delia Owens would not have found a publisher without it being a murder mystery, which is a shame, because I would have loved to have spent more time in the marshes and enjoyed a few chapters of a happy dreamy ending with the hero and heroine in their isolated cabin.

Have you read it? I know Laurie and Lynn have.

I am interested to know what others think of the book.

Yarn Along: Mosaic Crochet

I am having a go at Mosaic crochet for the first time.

The pattern calls for Aran weight yarn, but I have so much SSDK in my stash, I am using that in 5 colours of Stylecraft Special DK and a 4.5mm hook.

The colours are Parchment, Cypress, Lincoln, Copper and Silver. This will be for my nephew (aged 30).

The pattern is Santa Cruz by Moira Douglas of Daisyknots, on Ravelry

I am left-handed and at first I thought I had to flip the charts over to follow them, but no, they work if read from left to right.

It is easier to create these patterns than I expected it to be. Moira’s You Tube videos were a great help to get me started.

My top tip is not to cut the yarn at the end of each row until you have completed the next row, because it is easy to make mistakes in the placement of each stitch. Put the yarn on a stitch holder until you have finished the next row.

Warning: this is addictive, it is hard to put down as you just want to see how the pattern works out.

Which makes it hard to read a book right now, but I have been lent this book and it comes highly recommended. Have you read it?

Joining in with Ginny’s Yarn Along